Dr. Brandon J. Christensen

Dr. Brandon Christensen, violin and viola, has a career grounded equally in performance and education which has given him the opportunity to perform and teach all over the world. Before moving to Durango, Colorado, Dr. Christensen was professor of violin, viola, and director of chamber music at the Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts in Missouri.  He has also been on the faculties of Webster University, Dickenson College, The Harrow School in Beijing, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Music. He has given extensive international clinics including master classes throughout China, in Italy, and in Sweden. Brandon has performed as a soloist with many chamber orchestras and symphonies including the Beijing Sinfonieta, The Southern Illinois Festival Orchestra, the Carolina Chamber Symphony, and the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra.  As a chamber musician he has collaborated with myriad international performers including Valentina Igoshina and Vladimir Mendelssohn of the Paris Conservatory, Jeffrey Zeigler of the Kronos Quartet, and Mark Sparks of the Saint Louis Symphony. Previously a frequent performer in Italy, he was on the faculty of the Festival Suoni d’Abruzzo for three years, and also performed in Milan, Bologna, Ascoli Piceno, and in Tuscany. Equally at home in all genres of classical music Brandon has given more than a dozen world premiers including the “Doppelganger” concerto for two violins by David Dzubay, ( Indiana University) “A river to fill the silence” for violin and piano by Matthew Whittal (Sibelius Conservatory) and,“Zephyros” for violin and chamber orchestra by Enrico Blatti.  In May of 2018, Brandon performed the world premier of Silvano Scaltritti’s “Note dell’aria” for solo violin and wind orchestra with the Civica Orchestra di Fiatti in Milan, Italy.